Marketing is the lifeblood of any business and for that matter, any cause. You can have the best product on the planet, but if no one is exposed to it then there’s no one that will be interested in it. The same goes for businesses and ideas where the end goal isn’t necessarily to make money, but instead, to give it. Such is the case for scholarship programs where money is available for students but few end up finding about them because the creators of the scholarship program lacked the ability to market it to students who needed it. That’s why in this article we will be discussing the topic of scholarships and providing five tips for marketing the programs to college students as explained by Rusty Tweed.
5 Tips for Marketing Your Scholarship Program to College Students
1. Social Media: Talk to any college student and you will get their Twitter handle and Instagram username. Social media platforms are the millennial hub for everything related to college life and secrets of the trade for colleges around the nation. If you make an Instagram page for your scholarship program and begin to follow any and every college student, we assure you that your applications will be filled.
2. College Forums: Social media must be easy to relate to and updated on a constant basis so the next option is to constantly post on any and every college bulletin or forum because students are sure to view the scholarship you’re presenting. Make sure that marketing your scholarship is okay by contacting the organizers of the college’s website or the specific bulletin or forum.
3. Seminar Presentations: This is probably the most direct way to reach potential applicants but it will be the most effective. In order to pull this off and have a good turnout you must understand how to sell because though no one is paying you money, you are selling students on the reasons why they should apply for your scholarship. The students who attend the presentation will be “warm leads” and if you do your pitch correctly, they will turn into real applicants who will end up telling their friends back at the dorms.
4. SMS: The following two methods are a bit less direct than a seminar presentation or a post on a forum and social media. They are however a very subtle “in your face” method of literally sending your message to people who don’t know you exist. There are list providers who can sell you a list of college student’s phone numbers for the specific college you want to target. An SMS campaign will send your text message to every phone on that list and can have a huge result.
5. Email: Just like SMS, there are list providers who will sell you the emails of every college student in the area you choose. Though these email and text lists are not the cheapest methods they can be very effective in delivering your message.
Conclusion
In conclusion in this article, Rusty Tweed discussed the topic of scholarships for college students and provided five different methods to use when marketing them. Because college students were born into technology you will find the majority, if not all of them on different social media platforms. You can also go the traditional route and have a seminar presentation at the college of your choice to “sell” the students on your program. Finally, you can use text and email campaigns to send the same message to hundreds or thousands of students at a time. You will receive results in real time and will know exactly what is working and how your marketing can be better.